Cincinnati, Aug. 11 -- Spanish sensation Carlos Alcaraz had a tough, well-fought first-round outing against world number 56 Damir Dzumhur in the Cincinnati Open on Sunday, but he nonetheless made it to the second round of the competition.

Alcaraz was pushed to his limits, secured a 6-1, 2-6, 6-3 victory in a contest which started off with a lightning-fast tempo but slowed down. Aclaraz raced through the first set within just 28 minutes, but lost the next set as the errors crept in his game and intensity dipped. Alcaraz managed to regroup himself for the crucial decider, clutching with another great performance just when it was needed to close out the match in an hour and 41 minutes.

Following the match, Alcaraz said as quoted by ATP's o...